Friday, September 30, 2011

The Magnificent Seven Blu-ray Review

Academy
Award winner Yul Brynner stars in the landmark Western that launched
the film careers of Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn.
Tired of being ravaged by an army of marauding bandits, the residents
of a small Mexican village seek help from seven American gunfighters.
The only problem? It’s seven against 50! Also featuring Eli Wallach
and Robert Vaughn, and set against Elmer Bernstein’s Oscar-Nominated
score, director John Sturges’ thrilling adventure belongs in any Blu-ray
collection.

Film (4 out of 5 stars)

The Magnificent Seven is one of
the most cherished westerns ever made but it wasn’t always the case as
it didn’t do too well domestically until it was a huge hit in Europe and
was re-released in the States. The movie marks a milestone of sorts
for westerns as it was a perfect blend of the style of westerns that had
come before it, but it heralded a new direction as well for later
movies like Sergio Leone’s “The Man With No Name” trilogy and others.
Like Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars, The Magnificent Seven is based on an Akira Kurasawa film – in this case The Seven Samurai, only
this time without a lawsuit from Kurasawa. Of course, it had plenty of
it’s own lawsuits on it’s own between the producers of the movie. I
believe that The Magnificent Seven’s curious mix of old-fashioned values mixed with a modern way of shooting action has given it the longevity it’s had.

The story of the film is much like the
original it’s based off of with a group of peasants who have been
terrorized by a greedy bandit decide that they need help. Instead of
just hiring help outright like the original, this group of Mexicans
simply want to purchase guns to fight with (at the insistence of the
Mexican government who didn’t want it to look like the Americans were
sought to do something that they couldn’t do themselves). When the
group witness a selfless act of bravery involving a gunfighter named
Chris (Yul Brynner) they believe they have found an honest man that can
help them and ask him to buy guns for them. When Chris points out that
guns are very expensive and that it’s cheaper to hire men who have their
own guns, the Mexicans agree and the search for some good men begins.

The team that will eventually make up
the seven is gathered with the cynical gunslinger with a heart of gold
Vin (Steve McQueen), the knife expert Britt (James Coburn), the silent
but loyal Bernardo (Charles Bronson), the dapper and haunted Lee (Robert
Vaughn), the dreamer Harry (Brad Dexter), and the impetuous Chico
(Horst Buchhholz). Despite the job paying only $20 for the entire
mission, all of these men are desperate enough in different ways to
accept. When they arrive at the small village they discover that the
villagers are too scared to even welcome their protectors. Knowing that
the bandit leader Calvera (Eli Wallach) will return soon, Chris and the
rest of his team start teaching the villagers how to fortify their
village and how to fight.

Sure enough, Calvera and his fifty men
arrive only to learn that the once meek villagers were now willing to
fight back along with their formidable band of mercenaries. Finding out
that lesson cost Calvera a lot of men before he decides to retreat in
to the forest with the men he has left. Fearing the backlash that
guaranteed to come from the prideful and vengeful Calvera, some of the
villages start to think that maybe they made a mistake and want their
protectors to leave before Calvera returns. Disgusted by their
cowardice, the seven remain to fight for some people that don’t deserve
it. Once Calvera returns with more men, the villagers have a choice to
make as to whether to stand up for themselves or to sacrifice the men
that they hired. For the Magnificent Seven, there really isn’t any
choice at all.

Director John Sturges got an enviable
cast of actors that were just about to hit the big time and eventually
did with this film. The entire film is cast perfectly. Steve McQueen’s
laid back demeanor worked perfectly with Brynner’s authoritative Chris.
The laconic James Coburn didn’t say much and didn’t have to in the
movie as his gestures and looks sufficed. Charles Bronson’s Bernardo
got some nice moments of action and tenderness as his character
befriends some local boys who worship him. Vaughn does a fine job as
Lee (although his scene of waking up from a nightmare was a little too
overwrought for my tastes) and Dexter is also decent as the gullible
Harry who keeps on believing that there’s gold hidden somewhere to find.

The weakest link in the movie is Horst
Buchholz and not because he was a German actor pretending to be Mexican
(although that didn’t help) but because his acting was so over the top
especially compared to the other six actors. Sturges was convinced that
he was going to be a huge star and spent more time filming him that the
others which infuriated the other actors – especially McQueen who
complained to Brynner that Horst was going to steal the picture. When
Brynner disagreed, McQueen asked why he thought that and Brynner replied
“Because I’ve read the script.” Eli Wallach does a fantastic job as
the greedy and insecure Calvera which shouldn’t surprise anyone who
follows his work. He’s always good in every role he does and this movie
is no different.

The film’s themes of honor, sacrifice,
and community are presented well and give the movie a timeless quality.
The heightened action scenes kick-started a new direction for westerns
with it’s fast paced action that followed multiple leads. This men on a
mission movie which was a remake of another movie was so successful
that it spawned it’s own copycat movies including three sequels of its
own and a TV show much later. With it’s all-star cast that was
overflowing with charm and machismo and an incredible Oscar nominated
score from Elmer Bernstein, this movie really couldn’t fail.

Video (4 out of 5 stars)

For this 50th Anniversary edition I’m
happy to report that this 1080p (2.35:1) transfer looks very good and a
lot better than the previous DVD release. Let’s start with the good
news – there’s a lot of nice clarity and colors are nicely represented
here. There’s a lot of nice detail to appreciate such as the sheen of
the horse’s coats, the forest, and the colors on display during the
village celebration. Flesh tones are natural and consistent and nicely
capture the tanned faces of the seven. The bad news is that there are
some white specks that appear every now and again and there’s some
really rough transitions that were distracting to me. Overall this is a
very nice transfer considering it’s age and it’s worth upgrading to
Blu-ray for.

Audio (3 out of 5 stars)

The Magnificent Seven’s DTS-HD
Master Audio 5.1 mix doesn’t quite measure up to the level of the disc’s
new visual quality but it’s acceptable. For purists there’s an English
2.0 Mono track and a Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital offering as well.
Despite being a 5.1 mix, this is still a primarily front channel mix
with only some random gunfire and music venturing to the rear channels.
I was really hoping for a more immersive mix but it didn’t work out for
this movie. Dialogue is delivered clean and clear from the front
channels but don’t expect a whole lot for the other channels. This is an
average mix that could have been better but it may be the best the
movie can be due to it’s age.

Special Features ( 4 out of 5 stars)

The extras on this disc represent
quality over quantity. With a fun and informative commentary track and
an excellent documentary about the filming of the movie and more, I
believe most fans will be very happy with the extras on this disc.

Commentary by Walter Mirisch, Robert Relyea, and James Coburn and Eli Wallach – This
track by the film’s producer, the assistant director, and two of it’s
actors is a lot of fun to listen to as they reminisce about the filming
of the movie and offer some funny stories such as Coburn’s disapproval
of Horst Buchholz who he felt “Wasn’t ballsy enough.” We also hear
stories about Brynner’s lavish trailer setup with a waterfall, palm
trees, and more that was mercilessly mocked by the others. The
conversation veers around to many different areas including working for
Sergio Leone and how John Sturges lost his house because of taking a
loan against it for this movie which he “didn’t make a dime on,”
according to Coburn. I could spend all day listening to Coburn’s voice
so I’m glad he was able to record this prior to his unfortunate passing.

Guns for Hire: The Making of The Magnificent Seven – A
comprehensive documentary that last almost an hour and covers all
aspects of the film from adapting it from The Seven Samurai and the
lawsuits that resulted over the rights, and all the way from
pre-production to post-production. I also enjoyed hearing about the
one-upmanship between the cast as they deliberately tried upstaging each
other for the most screen time. McQueen was the worst offender as he
did everything he could to keep the audience’s attention on him and it
got so bad that Brynner told him to knock it offf and warned him all he
had to do was take his hat off to get the focus. With interviews with
Wallach, McQueen’s widow, Mirisch, Relyea, and some vintage interviews
with the cast, this has everything you need.

The Linen Book: Lost Images from The Magnificent Seven – Don’t
let the title of this extra fool you into thinking that it’s just
slide-show of still pictures. While this does include some long missing
pictures that were found stored in a salt mine in Kansas, it also
contains some additional interview footage that has some good info in
it. The pictures themselves are also cool to see and we hear how they
came to be there by Maggie Adams who is the head of MGM’s photo archive.

Elmer Bernstein and the Magnificent Seven – A
talk with film music historian Jon Burlingame who discusses the
incredible score from composer Elmer Bernstein and breaks down each
themes of the film and offers insights about all of them.

Trailer A

Trailer B

Stills Gallery

Final Thoughts (4 out of 5 stars)

Any fan of western movies should enjoy
this all-star extravaganza! Filled with memorable performances from a
cast of actors just about to hit the big time, The Magnificent Seven
delivers a lot of action, humor, and fun. Not many films have this
many big stars in them and it’s always fun to see them all in one movie
which still occasionally happens today with similar movies like The Expendables.
This is a good Blu-ray with some great extras, good visual quality,
and probably the best audio quality we’re going to get for this movie.